80's Ranger 4x4 for the Trails

[eightynine4x4]

All right i'll kill em.

On the note of small holes....Here's a pic of a dent in cab edge. There are a few spots like this, inconveniently along the edge so will be a bunch more work than just pulling.
Anyone recommend a particular small dent puller for sizes like this one? I mean the kind that screw in a small hole and then yank. No need to be "paintless" since i'll be doing lots of bondo work anyways.
This truck will never get perfect but it can be fun looking pretty quick.

 

[Curious Hound]

I would remove the interior trim and beat it out from the inside. But I'm not a body man.

 

[eightynine4x4]

I would remove the interior trim and beat it out from the inside. But I'm not a body man.

Yeah i'd prefer that too, but i believe i checked and there is a second interior cab wall behind the exterior one but i may have misinterpreted that. Will inspect again.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Yeah its double wall there.

IMO unless you know what you are doing you are just going to make it worse. It will be hard to "pop" out since it is on a corner AND it has a hard crease in it.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Yeah its double wall there.

IMO unless you know what you are doing you are just going to make it worse. It will be hard to "pop" out since it is on a corner AND it has a hard crease in it.

Yeah, i may just attempt to bondo fill the whole thing and see about sanding aggressively to get it as close to original form as possible. Probably would turn out half decently and is lower risk, so long as it's not too thick per the bondo limitations. Fortunately this is the only one that's so severely messing with an edge. The other spots are all much smaller.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It’s going to be pretty thick. IIRC bondo says like 1/8” or less or something like that.

The old racer back things from back in the day might cover it up though.

 

[Curious Hound]

Replicate it, evenly spaced, the rest of the way down the cab corner. Then do the same on the driver side. Then call them "speed dimples" like on a golf ball.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Replicate it, evenly spaced, the rest of the way down the cab corner. Then do the same on the driver side. Then call them "speed dimples" like on a golf ball.

Hahaha.

Well I think I just saw somewhere that bondo can actually be 1/4”. If so, that might be sufficient for all my dents.
In any case this will never be a show car, so I’d enjoy testing the limits with bondo cause what do I have to lose! Worst case is I am limited by bondo thickness/stability so just back off some and the dent ends up still present but much shallower. Or I keep it thick and something cracks a little bit later and I patch/paint.
I’m probably going to end up spraying the truck myself.

 

[Curious Hound]

Build it up in thin layers with about 24hrs cure time between layers.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Reattached the loose front left shock. I'm not confident that all the shocks are the proper length, nor am i confident that they're not.
There's a very logical guide here for measuring for new ones.. https://help.summitracing.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4779/~/what-length-shocks-do-i-need? And i may go through the rigors of doing that.
But does anybody that has a suspension lift of about 4 inches already have a recommendation for brand/size new shocks in front/back? Nothing top shelf, just well scotch will be fine.

 

[Curious Hound]

When you go to some of the better companies' websites and put your truck info into their search box, they will make a recommendation and the details page should tell you what applications the shocks fit. Such as, Skyjacker, try part numbers
H7054 & H7060

 

[eightynine4x4]

When you go to some of the better companies' websites and put your truck info into their search box, they will make a recommendation and the details page should tell you what applications the shocks fit. Such as, Skyjacker, try part numbers
H7054 & H7060

All right thanks. Yeah I tried that with the Rancho site and it recommended all the same exact shocks for my lift vs without. Definitely got me head scratching. I’ll look into the skyjackers.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I like my bilisteins.

I had skyjackers, I kinda think they were a cheaper shock with a different sticker thrown in the box. I had the white nitro ones.

 

[Curious Hound]

I like my bilisteins.

I had skyjackers, I kinda think they were a cheaper shock with a different sticker thrown in the box. I had the white nitro ones.

I just provided that as an example. I looked up Rancho and they didn't list models for 4" lift for his truck. I think they had models for 3" loft in front and 2.5" lift in the rear. Skyjacker gives nice clear info on their site. I'm running skyjackers. But I upgraded one or two levels from base quality.

 

[eightynine4x4]

Thanks! Assuming my suspension lift is in fact 4" and not something like 2 or 6, I did find the lengths that seem appropriate.. I believe i'll go with Skyjacker B8554 and B8560 which are a couple steps above base and still only about 50 bucks each. Also they're black. White shocks are an eye sore on my truck haha.